From the archives (From Craven Herald)

From the archives

10:20am Saturday 21st August 2010 in

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100 years ago

In a collision between two heavy-type motor vehicles in Farfield Road, Addingham, some of the participants had a miraculous escape. The cars were firmly locked together and one gentleman was thrown through the glass windscreen.

Silsden Motor Buses suffered an annual loss of £64. The fourth annual report of the bus company showed fares amounted to £1,006 and the parcels receipts to £117, compared to £1,055 and £106 respectively the previous year.

Although there was a considerable influx by the afternoon trains, the crowd at Bolton Abbey on the Bank Holiday was scarcely up to the average in point of numbers. Some of the more pessimistic were heard to affirm that so far as business was concerned, it was little better than an ordinary Saturday.

50 years ago

Since his election 15 years ago, Mr GB Drayson, MP for Skipton, had toured his widespread constituency each year during the summer recess. He began this year’s tour in Linton, where he lived, and called at 20 villages in Upper Wharfedale and North Ribblesdale. A loudspeaker was fitted to Mr Drayson’s car and his arrival was announced in each village.

A Rathmell model dairy farm of 74 acres fetched £14,600 – £20 an acre – at a sale at the Masonic Hall, Settle. Holly Dene, offered by Richard Turner and Son of Bentham, was bought by Mr A Bradley, of Merebeck Farm, Long Preston. It included a modern, four- bedroom semi-bungalow.

Glowing tributes were paid to the park keeper of Glusburn Park. It was decided by parish councillors to send Mr JR Smith a glowing letter and to substantially increase his wages.

25 years ago

Craven Council’s environmental health workers were busy trying to contain an outbreak of dysentery in Skipton, which appeared to have its source in one of the town’s schools. Parish Church Primary School, on Brougham Street, which also housed St Andrew’s Nursery, seemed to be the main link between the cases that had come to light. It was hoped the summer holidays may help to prevent the infection spreading further.

Teacher Pat Cummings was to receive an award from book company McGraw-Hill as the outstanding candidate in a national examination for teachers using computers. Only three weeks before taking the exam, Mrs Cummings had her second baby, and if her new daughter hadn’t arrived early she wouldn’t have taken the exam at all. Mrs Cummings, of Embsay, was librarian at South Craven School, Cross Hills.

Five Derby Venture Scouts trapped by floodwater in a Dales pothole were criticised by rescuers. The Scouts were rescued 17 hours after they entered Diccan Pot, near Horton-in-Ribblesdale. Controller of the Clapham-based Cave Rescue Organisation, Jack Pickup, said they had courted disaster and no self-respecting caver would have gone down in such unsettled weather. The scouts were forced to take refuge on a ledge after rainwater poured into the cave.

10 years ago

The Stirk House Hotel, Gisburn, was one of the first in the country to ban mobile phones from its restaurant. Proprietor Malcolm Weaving took the decision, saying mobile phones in restaurants were objectionable. He said: “Some people are embarrassed to receive a call during dinner and others are just annoyed, but there are people who like the sound of their own voice and they disturb other guests.”

Appletreewick’s newly-revived onion fair attracted the television cameras as well as plenty of tourists. A camera crew from Yorkshire Television’s Calendar turned up at the fair, which had not been held in the village since the early 1900s. A total of 300 onions were sold for the onion roll competition.

A surveillance scheme to catch people who allowed their dogs to foul in the street was being launched. Instead of employing a second dog warden, Craven District Council agreed to fund surveillance on specific problem areas throughout the district.